Tale of the tape, Penn State

I'm going to start with the crucial plays near the end, and maybe not have as many general observations this time around:

-- On the spot on Beanie's dive on second-and-2....this is a classic case of people getting sucked in by TV's mistakes. It was a good spot and it was not a first down, here's why:

On the first-and-10 play, look where the line of scrimmage is -- just past Ohio State's 41-yard line, by about a foot or two. Now look at the yellow line marking the first down -- it's right on the Penn State 49. That means the line is off -- it should be about a foot or two past the PSU 49.

But because the line is wrong, when Beanie falls down right on the PSU 49 -- and the yellow line - Brent Musburger on ABC sounds surprised that they marked it third down.

It's a case of perception becoming reality. It was the right spot all along.

-- On Terrelle Pryor's fateful fumble: Of course, by now we know everyone thinks he should have dived up the middle rather than bounce it outside.

I disagree, to a point. There was a third option that would have been his best choice. The middle was definitely stacked up, but once he took a step to the outside and safety Mark Rubin came up fast, Pryor's mistake was to take another step to the outside and try to go way wide.

What he should have done was just cut up inside Rubin....Jake Ballard had the PSU defensive end sealed off firmly. If Pryor simply flops his 6-6 body forward right outside Ballard, he's got the first easily without risking a hit and the fumble.

Easy for me to say, huh?

-- I thought another huge play was Evan Royster picking up 4 yards to convert PSU's third-and-2 from the OSU 6. The Buckeyes played great defense most of the night, but on that play, they were caught out of position and failed to adjust.

Penn State had its tight end to its right side, and then another tight end went in motion, left to right. Yet Ohio State put its outside linebacker, Marcus Freeman, on the left of the formation and the Buckeyes never shifted to meet PSU's obvious "heavy right" look. Freeman was effectively out of the play, and the Nittany Lions had four blockers for two OSU defensive linemen -- the other two blockers did a nice job occupying James Lauriniaitis and Kurt Coleman, and Royster was able to squeeze outside for the first.

Had Royster not made it there, I don't think there's any doubt that Joe Paterno kicks the gimme field goal and settles for a 6-6 tie game at that point, with 8-something left on the clock.

-- Ray Small's problem right now on punt returns is that he's not getting into the proper position to catch the ball. Twice, he was too far upfield and had to reach back over his head to make the catch. If he backs up more as the ball is in the air, he doesn't give Jim Tressel a heart attack.

-- I'm starting to grade OSU's offensive line on a curve, because I'm realizing they have some innate limitations right now, and those were obvious when you compare them to Penn State.

The Nittany Lions clearly are quicker. To watch them pull and move, "wham" a guy, then move on and block another guy, is a thing of beauty.

Meanwhile, OSU's guys once again so often seem to get caught up, tangled up, whatever, and don't get out in front of the ballcarrier to effectively lead them into the hole.

This isn't to say the Buckeyes screwed up every play and Penn State executed perfectly. But look at the final rushing stats: Penn State 37 for 160 (4.3 average) vs. Ohio State 31 for 61 (2.0 average). It was a close game all the way and there was only one sack by each team, so those numbers are honest.

-- Pryor at times rolls out and throws on the run when he doesn't have to, resulting in some poor throws. Examples:

Early second quarter, the apparent 11-yard completion to Robiskie that was overturned by replay -- OSU had 7 players blocking 5 defenders and Pryor was not under pressure, yet he rolled left, making it a much tougher throw. Had he set and delivered, maybe the ball isn't so low and the tip doesn't hit the ground.

Later in the second, on third-and-7 from the PSU 38, he again rolled out when I didn't think it was necessary, and he threw low into the turf. OSU punted after getting a first-and-10 at the Nittany Lions 41.

That's it for now. We'll do this again in two weeks....

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.